Two Typhoons and a Tornado jet flew over RAF Lossiemouth, the UK’s most northerly RAF base, to mark the anniversary of the monarch and her consort.

During the couple’s tour of the RAF base, The Queen, wearing a lilac outfit by Karl Ludwig, unveiled a plaque at the new Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) facility, and was given a posy of flowers by eight-year-old Lennon Gallagher.

The schoolboy from the town of Lossiemouth said: “I got the day off school to give The Queen flowers. She said ‘thank you, they’re so beautiful’.”

The posy was made up of colours from the RAF Lossiemouth tartan to mark the royal visit.

It was The Queen’s first visit to the base in over ten years, the last being in 2003, and formally recognised the transfer of the QRA facility from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth.

The facility is only one of two in Britain that gets jets ready to intercept any unidentified aircraft in the northern hemisphere.

The couple travelled overnight from London on the Royal Train to Elgin, and were driven to Lossiemouth, where they first met pilots and their families.

A parade inside an aircraft hangar greeted The Queen and Prince Philip, where the couple took a royal salute and inspected personnel from No 1 (Fighter) Squadron.

The QRA has been operating from RAF Lossiemouth for a few months already, and jets from the base have been used to intercept Russian military aircraft flying into UK airspace.

Wing Commander Mike Sutton said: “QRA is one of the most critical roles that the UK military has.

Today is an enormous day for RAF Lossiemouth and we’re delighted to be hosting Her Majesty. As you can see we have lots of families visiting today and there’s a real good feeling on the station.”